site.bta Supreme Judicial Council Representative Shows He Was Not Sender of Infamous Text Message to PM

Supreme Judicial Council Representative Shows He Was Not Sender of Infamous Text Message to PM

Sofia, January 22 (BTA) - The newly elected representative of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), Dimiter Ouzounov, made public Friday his cell phone records on January 14 to prove that he was not the sender of an infamous text message to the Prime Minister. The news media were informed of this by Ouzounov himself.

The message was presumably sent to Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and was largely seen as a proof that somebody was keeping the government leader informed in real time of the proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council - and that politicians were interfering in the work of the judiciary. The message was then forwarded by the Prime Minister to Supreme Cassation Court President Lozan Panov, who showed it to the news media.

The records printout from Ouzounov's cell phone operator showed that he did not send or receive any text messages from 9:30 am to 12.30 pm on that day.
Dimiter Ouzounov was a key "suspect" in the text message row. He has been frequently mentioned in an ongoing scandal over possible political interference in the work of the SJC and the judiciary in general and is alleged to be "the Prime Minister's man" in the body of top administrative authority in the judiciary.

On January 20, 13 of the 25 SJC members voted to discontinue the term of its representative member, Sonya Naydenova, and replaced her with Dimiter Ouzounov. The motion for Naydenova's replacement was surprisingly submitted to the SCJ by 12 members at the start of the Wednesday meeting.